grad school and learning a language

[arisha]

So I have a total newbie question for you guys. Say I have a BA in a foreign language, and my main goal is to become fluent in that language (or at least a lot closer to fluent than I am now). Would going to grad school for that language help at all with this? Or am I better off just spending time in a country where the language is spoken?

Thank

Comments

[cheez_ball]

For the sake of example I googled PhD and French to see what a grad program in a foreign language looks like. Here's one of the top results: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/French/program/index.html. From the description of the program it looks like not just a study of the language, but the literature and culture as well. For someone whose goal is to become fluent in French I would say that the grad program is overkill. I'd recommend moving to a French speaking part of the world, like Canada or France, and refusing to speak English (I say this because when I went to Italy to practice my Italian I had to explain to most of the locals that I didn't want to speak English - they automatically assumed because I'm American).

FWIW, the Peace Corps has opportunities for people who have foreign language skills and wish to do humanitarian work in those regions. Another option would be to take grad or undergrad classes in the country where you want to learn the language - Re: student visa.

[tisiphone]

I agree re the content - one of my friends is a grad student in German, and while learning the grammar and syntax of Middle High German is certainly increasing her depth of knowledge it's not doing much for her ability to actually speak it. (Not a concern for her, as she's a bilingual native speaker, but should be for the OP.)

[arisha]

From the description of the program it looks like not just a study of the language, but the literature and culture as well.

Thank you for looking into that for me! I'd gotten the same impression from my Googling as well, it's nice to know I wasn't totally wrong. My undergrad was the same sort of thing, and while I enjoyed the literature and culture classes, I did sometimes feel they were taking away from my learning the language!

Thank you for the advice. :)